Following in the footsteps of AT&T and T-Mobile, this week Verizon Wireless introduced FreeBee Data, a scheme that allows Verizon customers to consume content without having to use their precious data. It’s a “sponsored” data service, meaning content providers pay for whatever Verizon customers consume, whether it’s visiting an entire website or streaming a video.
FreeBee Data is provided via two models. The first, FreeBee 360, enables content providers to pay per gigabyte, allowing Verizon post-paid customers to access a number of services and content seemingly free of charge. A second FreeBee Data model allows the content provider to pay on a per-click basis, meaning they’ll pay for only streaming video, streaming audio, or app downloads the Verizon customer clicks on.
According to the product page, the per-click FreeBee Data plan allows for thirty seconds of paid video including movie trailers, product videos and ads, and brief video highlights. This plan also allows for thirty minutes of audio streaming such as podcasts, audiobooks, and music streaming. All content provided under this plan, including apps and websites, is designated with a bee logo (shown above), indicating that the media is basically “on the house” and won’t be charged against the consumer’s data cap.
“With FreeBee Data 360, you can sponsor some or all of the mobile content on your website or app so consumers will be able to access your content without impacting their data plans,” reads the product page. Seemingly, this would be used to pay for consumers accessing an entire website on the go, such as grabbing an online coupon while shopping in a retail store. Or to download the store’s app and shop online without having to use your data.
Colson Hillier, vice president, Consumer Products at Verizon, said that one in three Americans watch video on their smartphones, and another 100 million do the same on their tablets. That’s a lot of data, even more so when customers are out and about, away from their home Wi-Fi networks and streaming video and audio on their data plans. At the end of the month, that data usage can add up.
Verizon Wireless is offering the FreeBee Data 360 plan to content providers now. However, the per-click FreeBee Data plan doesn’t start until January 25, and that will only be offered as a beta trial until it goes commercial later this year. Content providers already signed up for the per-click plan include GAMEDAY, AOL, and Hearst Magazines, who will provide paid content to 1,000 test Verizon customers.
How will this plan play nice with net neutrality rules? Is it fair to content providers that can’t afford to pay for Verizon customers’ data habits? Some have suggested that Verizon’s new FreeBee Data plans make its mobile network an unfair playing field for content providers fighting for consumer attention and dollars.
From maximumpc
